bergie

B3E1R1G2I1E1

noun

A homeless person in Cape Town.

“The man joined a group of bergies sleeping near the police station and pretended to be one of them when confronted by the rangers.”

OriginAfrikaans bergie →
Scrabble 9
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Meanings

nounbergie (plural bergies)

plural bergies

  1. South AfricaA homeless person in Cape Town.

    The man joined a group of bergies sleeping near the police station and pretended to be one of them when confronted by the rangers.

    1 more example

    ‘You check my records, okay? You'll see. Always, every week, some bergie or skollies causing trouble for me. What are my customers supposed to do?’

    2008, Lauren Beukes, Moxyland, Jacana Media, →ISBN, page 103

Origin

  1. Afrikaansbergie
  2. Englishbergie

Borrowed from Afrikaans bergie, from berg (“mountain”). So called because they used to live in the mountains.

More words from Afrikaans

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bergie. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bergie

MLA

“bergie.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bergie. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bergie,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bergie.

Source: bergie on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.